How to Optimize Your Search Snippets Using Named Anchor Links

19/02/2019

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Last updated on February 20, 2019 at 09:02 am

As a student of SEO, I’ve learned so many things that can affect your online presence over the years, from algorithm updates to various strategies borne out of experimentation. All of these are done just for our websites to show up on the first page of Google’s search results, along with expanding your presence and brand and generate revenue in the ever-expanding digital landscape.

Google’s search snippet has gone through a multitude of changes over the past few years, with the introduction of featured snippets and knowledge graphs providing instant information containing more detailed results. Along with these two features, regular search snippets have also become more versatile as well with the introduction of Named Anchor Links. Here’s what you need to know about Named Anchor Links, how to apply them, and how they can impact your search.

What are Named Anchor Links?

Named Anchor Links are links that can be viewed below the search snippet in Google. These links can direct you to various pages in your website, or a specific section on the webpage itself.

This feature allows users to quickly navigate to places they want on a website, providing more opportunities for more webpages to generate traffic. Most search queries have become increasingly specific, especially with the emergence of voice and visual search, and named anchors surely make it even more so than before.

The user experience is crucial when it comes to search results and being more direct can lead to more positive results that can generate more opportunities for conversions and discovering content.

How to apply named anchors

Named anchors appearing on search snippets is possible through content optimization, as Google tends to generate these results based on how they viewed your content. The best way to ensure that names anchors would be present is by making each section of your page clear and well-defined.

This means applying the right H2 and H3 tags on the page, which allows you to see links to different pages on your search snippet, which we were able to do in our website. Content optimization is key to making this work and applying this to your home page and landing pages allow for better navigation. The title tags for these sections must also describe what the user would access upon clicking on them. This means that direct title tags such as “Frequently Asked Questions” or “Best SEO Strategies” are good examples of title tags that are straight to the point and can be read by Google as distinct sections.

Quick navigation, table of contents, and related content sections also work well when it comes to appearing on search snippets. These quick links allow users to be able to view additional content, which can be found in the search snippet, allowing users to click and access multiple web pages. The Fetch as Googlebot option also works as well, which is one of the most effective ways to ensure that your webpage would contain named anchors after some content optimization. The applied changes

Impacting your search

Named anchors not only make navigation and content discovery much more convenient but also benefit traffic as well. Users not only have access to one webpage but also has access to others that they might be interested in taking a look. If you have content that might need an extra traffic boost, having it show up in your quick navigation or related content section would help give it more visibility.

If featured snippets and knowledge graphs provide quick information that lessens the need to click more, named anchors to allow more content to be discovered within your website, providing in-depth information that fits Google’s E-A-T standards.

Key Takeaway

Named anchors may have been a feature that has been around for a long time, it is still a very efficient way of providing more content to the users, along with increasing the visibility of related content. While knowledge graphs and featured snippets are being prioritized by numerous websites, making use of Named Anchor Links is another way of providing information, while improving your search traffic.

If you have questions or inquiries about SEO, leave a comment below and let’s talk.